Pacian of Barcelona

In his own words on Leviticus

• Leviticus 1:6

  We strip off the skin of a victim when we remove the illusion of virtue from the eyes of our mind. We cut its limbs into pieces when we carefully distinguish the content of a virtue and ponder it step by step. We should take care, so that when we conquer evil we do not replace it with frivolous goods. Otherwise those goods might produce inconstancy; they might lay hold of frivolity; they might wander off on the path of error; they might be broken by laziness and lose the value of work already done. In all things the mind should look around carefully and persevere in its provident concern. We should also note that we are sometimes afflicted by an impulse to illicit thoughts, because we are engaged in some earthly business, even if it is legitimate. When an earthly act is tinged with desire, even in a small way, the power of the ancient enemy grows against us and our minds are corrupted by no small oppression of temptation. Hence the priest of the law is bidden to burn in fire part of the victim that has been cut into pieces, namely, the head and the parts around the liver; but the feet and the intestines of the victim he must first wash in water. We burn the head and what is near the liver when, in the senses that rule the whole body and in our hidden desires, we burn with the flame of divine love. And the priest is commanded to wash the victim's feet and intestines. Feet touch the earth, and intestines carry excrement. We are often set on fire with longing for eternity and in our sense of devotion long for our mortification. But since we still do something earthly because of our weakness, we tolerate in our hearts some illicit thoughts that we have suppressed. And when unclean temptation fouls our thoughts, what do they contain except excrement from the victim's intestines? To burn them, they should be washed, for it is necessary that weeping in fear should wash away unclean thoughts. The heavenly fire can burn them in an acceptable sacrifice. Whatever the mind suffers in unfamiliar struggle or in the memory of its first conversion is to be washed, so that it can burn more sweetly in the sight of the one who beholds it. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus

• Leviticus 6:9

  That fire is perpetual that is never extinguished on the altar. The altar of God is our heart. Fire must always burn in it, for the flame of charity must always burn on it for God. Day by day, the priest puts wood on the fire, lest it go out. Everyone who has faith in Christ has been made a member of the high priest. The apostle Peter says to all the faithful, "You are an elect people, a royal priesthood." The apostle John says, "You have made us a kingdom and a priesthood for our God." The priest who feeds the fire on the altar and puts wood on it each day is each one of the faithful. To keep the flame of charity from going out in himself, he does not cease to gather both the examples of the elders and the testimonies of Holy Scripture. To call to mind the examples of the fathers or the precepts of the Lord in the practice of charity is to put fuel on the fire. Since this inner newness of ours grows old in the daily living of life, wood must be used to feed that fire. While the fire grows dim as we age, it grows bright again through the testimonies and examples of the fathers. And the command is good, to gather wood each day in the morning. This cannot be done except when the night of darkness is banished. Since morning is the first part of the day and comes when we have put off thoughts of this present life, each of the faithful should think of this task first so that the practice of charity can inflame whatever is just about to die out in him, by the efforts he can make. For that fire on the altar of God— that is, in our hearts—is soon extinguished unless it is carefully maintained by the examples of the fathers and the testimonies of the Lord. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus

• Leviticus 7:3

  What is the tail, except the end of the body? And that man sacrifices well who continues his offering of good works right to the end of the required action. So the tail of a beast must be offered on the altar so that we will carry out to the end every good work that we begin. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus

• Leviticus 7:33

  What does it mean that the priest, by a precept of the law, receives not only the right shoulder, but receives it "separated"? Not only is his work useful; it is also unique. Not only does he do what is right among wicked men, but he surpasses those who live well and are subject to him by the honor of his orders and thus surpasses them in his virtuous life. When the breast and the shoulder are given to him as food—since he is bidden to consume part of the sacrifice—he learns to sacrifice something of himself to God. Not only should he think right thoughts in his breast, but also by the work of his shoulder draw his hearers to things above. Nothing in this present life should he desire, nothing should he fear. He should despise the pleasures of this world and reject the fear within, and he should scorn fear as he meditates on the pleasures of inner sweetness. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus

• Leviticus 13:57

  Sometimes we know we have done something poorly and avoid including it in our work. But the guilt of it insinuates itself into other acts of ours. For there are some who are subject to carnal uncleanness but reflect on it and return to themselves; they acknowledge the guilt of their depravity. But when they have recovered from their unclean act, they immediately boast of the good of their chastity and swell up with foolish pride. First an unclean act held sway over their bodies; then unclean pride reigns in their minds. What takes hold of them spiritually is like roaming leprosy. It does not wholly leave the garment but changes its place on it. The garment is each of the faithful in the holy church. A roaming and wandering leprosy lays hold of a garment when, by an unreformed fault, guilt takes hold of that soul that seems to be faithful. Let's suppose someone boasts when he possesses riches in this world but then hears from the mouth of a preacher that all these material things are going to perish; he then distributes what he has to the poor. But when he does so, pride swells up in his heart. First he took pride in his possessions; then he took pride in his generosity! This is analogous to the leprosy changing its place on the garment. Another man is given to immoderate and undisciplined expressions of pleasure. Perhaps he is admonished by a preacher. He practices gravity and selfcontrol and tries to restrain himself so that he does not indulge in dissolute pleasure. Often, though, he restrains himself from pleasure, immoderately—more than he should. His soul turns to anger. His sadness gives rise to motives for wrath and disturbs his mind, constricted as it is with the barb of rage. And so the vice of immoderate pleasure passed through immoderate restraint into the vice of anger. It is like a roaming and wandering leprosy which left the place it had and occupied a place it had not had. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus

• Leviticus 19:23

  Fruitbearing trees are works that bring forth virtues. We circumcise trees when we are suspicious of how weak our first efforts are and do not approve of the first fruits of our work. We call the fruit that grows unclean and do not take it as our food. When the first fruits of good works are praised, it is proper that this fruit should not feed the soul of the worker. Otherwise the praise we receive is plucked, and the fruit of our work is eaten out of season. So one who receives praise from a human mouth for a virtue just undertaken eats the fruit of a tree he has planted before its time. Truth said this through the psalmist: "It is vain for you to rise before dawn; rise up after you have sat down." To rise before dawn is to rejoice in the night of this present life, before the clear light of eternal rewards appears. We should first sit down and then rise up rightly, because whoever does not willingly humble himself now will not be exalted in the glory to come. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus